The NAACP believes strongly that future leaders must be developed today, and such development is ongoing in the Youth & College Division, created in 1936. Today there are more than 25,000 young people, under the age of 25, representing 700 Youth Councils, High School Chapters and College Chapters actively involved in the fight for civil rights.​The NAACP has one of the largest organized groups of young people of any secular organization in the country.​

Youth & College

Since it was founded in 1909, the NAACP has provided and trained more leaders for the black community than any other secular organization. Virtually every black American leader, public and private, local and national, learned the spirit of public service and the techniques of leadership through the NAACP. Roy Wilkins, Rosa Parks, Vernon Jordan, Julian Bond, Andrew Young, Patricia Harris, Thurgood Marshall, Ralph Bunche, Dr. Ronald Walters, and many others served their apprenticeships in the Association’s youth units – including the NAACP Chairman of the Board of Directors, Roslyn M. Brock and the President and CEO, Benjamin Todd Jealous.

Today there are over 600 NAACP Youth Councils, High School Chapters, and College Chapters actively involved in social justice advocacy by addressing local issues as well as a national agenda made up of problems including Education, Economic Empowerment, Health, Juvenile Justice, and Civic Engagement. The NAACP is the only major civil rights organization, which encourages young people to participate fully in all aspects of its structure, including membership on the National Board of Directors.

What is the NAACP?

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination"